Elisha, a Type of Christ

Many of the prophets in the Bible and Book of Mormon had experiences that made them types of Christ.  One of those was Elisha who was the successor to Elijah as recorded in 2 Kings.  The Old Testament student manual says, “Many features of Elisha’s ministry parallel those of the Savior’s. He truly was a type of the Messiah, as Elijah had been before him.”  At the start of Elisha’s service as a prophet we see this parallel to the life of Christ.  As Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire, “Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof” (2 Kings 2:11-12).  This call to a “father” at the beginning of the ministry of Elisha reminds us of the call of the Savior on the cross to His Father at the end of His ministry: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).  It was especially in the miracles that Elisha performed, though, that we really see the parallel to the life of the Savior. 

               Two of the most important symbols that the Savior used in His ministry were water and bread.  He transformed the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana, walked on water in the Galilee, calmed the storm on the lake, and multiplied the loaves of bread to feed the multitudes.  Elisha performed very similar miracles.  A widow came to him in desperate need of money so that her sons would not be sold as bondmen.  He told her, “Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.”  He then had her pour out one vessel of oil into all of the vessels she had gathered, and all were miraculously filled with oil so that she could sell the oil in order to pay her debts (2 Kings 4:3-6).  This certainly reminds us of the Savior transforming the vessels into wine for His mother.  On another occasion, Elisha showed his power over the elements just as the Savior had shown at Galilee: “So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom… and there was no water for the host….  And [Elisha] said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.”  The account then records that “in the morning” there was “water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water” (2 Kings 3:9, 16-17, 20).  So he was able to miraculously bring an enormous amount of water in a time of drought.  At another time he similarly showed his power over the elements and water in particular when an “axe head fell into the water” and Elisha cast a stick into the water and “the iron did swim” (2 Kings 6:5-6).  Just as the Savior could walk on water and cause Peter to do the same, so Elisha could cause what normally should sink in water to float.  Elisha also multiplied food for the people just as the Savior did: “And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.  And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.  So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord” (2 Kings 4:42-44).  We don’t know how many people he fed, but surely it was a miracle that pointed to the great miracles the Savior would do to feed the Galilean multitudes. 

               I think my favorite symbolic story about Elisha, though, is one that takes place after he died.  We read, “And Elisha died, and they buried him…. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man… they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet” (2 Kings 13:20-21).  So apparently, a dead man was placed next to Elisha and his body touched Elisha’s bones causing him to miraculously be raised from the dead.  Just as this dead man was brought physical life through Elisha’s dead body, so does the death of Christ give us immortal life through the resurrection.  It is through the “offering of the body of Jesus Christ” that we are “sanctified” and find true life (Hebrews 10:10).  Surely the stories of Elisha, more than simply recounting the tales of a great man, point us to look at the Savior through whom this Old Testament prophet was able to work such mighty works.